RACE ROW

‘NO IT’S NOT!’

The Berwick MP suggested an amendment to the finance bill could be tabled by Tory rebels to force Mr Hammond’s hand – as she agreed it was a mistake on a par with George Osborne’s widely-mocked pasty tax in 2012.

Her comments come after Conservative former minister Andrew Murrison expressed concern that electricians, plumbers and plasterers would be among those hit.

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Backbench MP Anne-Marie Trevelyan is calling for a re-think

Philip Hammond raises National Insurance for self-employed in the 2017 Spring Budget

Speaking in the House of Commons after the Budget statement he said: "This party on this side always has been, I hope always will be, the party that supports white van man.”

Fellow backbenchers have also attacked the measure, with Tom Tugendhat calling for a "re-think.

He said last night: "I come from a political tradition that believes in small government, that believes in low taxes, that seeks to encourage entrepreneurship and enterprise.

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Mr Hammond is facing a grilling from the media on his NICs increase this morning

PA

Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg has also attacked the measure

"And though indeed these are very minor figures that we're seeing here - a percentage point here or there, two over two years - they speak to a tone that is not entirely helpful.

“In that I would urge a rethink, because the self-employed, the startup, the people who are taking risks and are carrying it themselves, those are the ones we should encourage."

Jacob Rees-Mogg said the Chancellor should be "very cautious" and urged him to look at the whole issue of NICs and income tax.

EPA

The row has overshadowed the Chancellors first Budget

Chancellor's key messages​ from the 2017 spring Budget​ in just under two minutes

He said it was "very hard to see" how this announcement squared with the precise wording of the manifesto, which was "absolutely clear", adding it was "a very short-sighted, pasty-tax style approach for the Treasury to take".

And Nigel Mills, Tory MP for Amber Valley, said: "Any tax rise that discourages any kind of activity is not an attractive one, especially when we are quite reliant on self-employment."

But speaking on ITV1's Good Morning Britain, the Chancellor said: "Britain's circumstances have moved on.